A wide variety of stringed instruments are known, such as six and twelve string guitars, bass guitars, ukuleles, mandolins, sitars, banjos and the like. Tuning mechanisms for such stringed instruments are quite old in the art. Typically, a well known worm gear drive tuning mechanism is used to tension the strings wound about a tuning peg. A gear wheel is attached to the tuning peg and the gear wheel is driven by a worm gear mechanism. A common arrangement includes a piece of sheet metal formed into a U-shaped channel across which a worm gear is rotatably mounted. The worm gear engages a mating pinion gear that is directly attached to and rotates the tuning peg. Alternative arrangements are also known wherein the worm gear drive is secured in position by a sheet metal stamping having opposing mounting ears for receiving slots in the worm gear shaft. In order to enhance the appearance of the stringed instrument it is fairly common for the component parts of the tuning mechanism to be nickel plated, including a metal tuning handle or knob. After tensioning the strings using the tuning mechanism, the tuning handles or knobs are most likely not in the same rotational position. Thus, the visual appearance of the musical instrument is something less than desirable. What is needed is a tuning mechanism that provides a means to enable the tuning handles or knobs to be freely rotated after the strings of the stringed instrument have been tuned.